Hosiery.



L. N. D. WILLIAMS.

HOSIERY.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1914- 1 1 84,500. Patented May 23, 1916.

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L. N. D. WILLIAMS.

'HOSIERY.

APPLICATION Fl ED 1,184,500. mm m Patented May23, 1916.

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LOUI L S N. D. H ILLIAMS, 0F OGONTZ, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Application filed June 23, 1914. Serial No. 846,711.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS N. D. l/VIL- LIA s, a citizen of the United States, resid- 'ing in ()gontz, Pennsylvania, have-invented certain Improvements in Hosiery, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to produce an article of hosiery having a foot of less diameter than the leg, another object is to provide a difierent character of web in the sole portion of the foot from that in the instep portion of the same, and still another object is to provide the foot with a toe of a shape similar to that shown in the patent of Samuel Henshall, No. 388,67 8, dated August 2-8, 1888, but capable of quicker produc my i'nventipn embodied in the toe portion but not in the foot of the stocking, and Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the needles a. circular knitting machine intended for the production of articles of hosiery in accordancewith my in vention.

In carrying out my invention '1 use a ma chine of a special type, such as shown in an application for patent filed by me of even date herewith, this machine having two banks of needles 1 and i as shown in Fig. 16, and two'i'ndependent and separably open able cam cylinders, one for acting upon one bank of needles and the other'for acting upon the other bank, as set forth, in the application before alluded to.

, The cam cylinders may be reciprooatedso that to-and-fro knitting may be simultaneously performed upon both banks of needles, the needle actuating cams of one cylinder being diametrically opposed to those of the other cylinder, or the cylinders may be adjusted so that the cams of one ,may follovv'those of the other in their action in order to produce continuous tubular web by round-and-round knitting, and each cam cylinder is combined with picking dc vices whereby needle after needle may be raised out of operative relation with the knitting cams in order to gradually narrow the webs produced during to-and-fro knitting, and either or both of the cam cylinders may also be combined with picking devices whereby the needles first raised out of action may subsequently be restored to action again in order to gradually widen the previously narrowed web, and thus form heel or toe pockets in the ordinary manner.

In producing a stocking of the character shown in Fig. 1, round-and-round knitting upon all of the needlesof the machine may be commenced at the upper portion of the leg and continued down to the beginning of the heel, whereupon rotary knitting is discontinued, the further production of web being by to-and-fro knitting upon each bank of needles independently of the other and with independent yarn for each bank of needles. lVhile the bank of needles 1 is inoperative the heel as is produced with one yarn upon the bank of needles 1, the web being first narrowed and then widened-again to form the heel pocket extending to the line :0, whereupon reciprocating or to-andfroknitting upon both banks of needles is started, the needles 1 being supplied with one yarn and the needles 1 with a different yarn.

Needle after needle first at one end and then at the opposite end of each bank is then withdrawn from action so as to narrow the webs until the line y is reached, any desired number of. needles being thus withdrawn and any desired number of courses of stitches knitted during this operation so as to produce on each web narrowing gussets of the desired contour. For instance, supposing that there are one-hundred and ten (110) needles in each bank, five (5) needles at each end of each bank may be withdrawn tinned until the point is reached at which the toe is to be formed and during this the instep, for instance, while the instep'por-' tion'may have between the line y and the beginning of the toe, one-hundred (100) courses the sole portion between the same lines may have one-hundred and fifty (150) courses.

In producing the toe two tapering webs are knitted, one constituting a continuation a of the sole portion a of the foot and the other a like continuation of the instep portion 6' of the foot, these webs being tapered by gradually lifting out of action, successively, first at one end and then at the opposite end of the set, needle after needle until the desired narrowing has been effected, the stocking being completed by uniting the edges 0-0, 00, cZ-(l, and ee, by sewing, looping, or in any other available way.

The union of the edges c'c and ee is preferably effected in the following manner: Upon the completion of the narrowed webs a and I) the stitches from all ofthe needles of both banks 11 are transferred to the points of a looping machine and ,looped together in the ordinary manner,

thus uniting said edges c'c' and c@ with out casting the stitches from the needles and therefore without risk of'running back of the stitches on the edges c0 and 6-6, during the handling of the stocking subsequent to such casting off of the stitches and before uniting said edges cc and 6-0, a further advantage being that by this method said edges can be united without the formation of any objectionable seam. This operation having been completed the edges 0-0 and d(Z are then united in any desired way in order to complete the formation of the foot of the stocking. I

Another method of uniting theedges 0c and ee which may be adopted is to first complete the formation of the narrowed webs a and b and then to form one or more continuous courses of stitches on v the needles of each bank 1 and 1 either by independent to-and-fro knitting upon the needles of each bank or by 'round-and-round knitting upon theneedles of both banks, the stitches of one of these courses being then united by looping or otherwise so as to join the edges c'0 and e-e, and said courses being then severed at a point between the edges c-c and e-e so as to permit of the extensionof the foot and instep webs and bringing together of the selvage edges d.d of the same for subsequent JOlIllIlg. I I

The stocking blank shown Fig. 2 is similar to that shown in'F1g. 1, with the exception that it is produced entirely by toand-fro knitting upon the-separate'banks'of needles, the front and. -rear webs in the leg the line f, preferably by aline of' suture stitches produced during the knitting operation. i

The stocking blank shown in Fig; 3'is produced in the samemanner as that shown in Fig. 1 until the formation ofthe toe is reached, whereupon insteadv of, forming portion of thestocking being united along: 5

narrowedwebs, one projecting from the in- 1' step portion of the foot and the other from eration which includes the uniting of the edges d-cl.

The stocking shown in Fig. 4 is not narrowed in the foot portion, both leg and foot being produced by round-and-round knitting upon all of the needles of both banks 1 and 1, and the stocking having the usual seamless heel it produced by to-and-fro knitting upon the needlesl. The toe is produced by simultaneous to-and-fro knitting upon the needles 1 and 1 independently and with independent yarns, the toe webs being shapedby narrowing'inthe same manner as .in producing the toe shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

- The stocking shown in Fig. 5 is produced in the same manner as that shown in Fig. 1, with the exception that the'foot isnot narrowed, the sole and instep webs being produced by simultaneous to-and-fro knitting independently and with separate yarns upon the full number of needles 1 and 1, and being united along each side of the foot by a line of stitches p, preferably suture stitches, produced during the knitting operation.

I claim 1. A stocking having a foot composed of independently knitted instep and sole Webs and a seamless heel integral with said sole web and with the rear of the leg, said sole web being knitted with shorter stitches than I the instep web and having between the heel and toe a greater number of courses than the instep web.

2. The mode herein described of producing a stocking foot, said mode consisting in knitting to-and-fro simultaneously upon oppositely disposed banks of needles, supplying one yarn to one bank ofxneedles and another yarn to the other bank of needles,

ofneedles in each bank to produce instep and sole webs, and then putting out of action, at the opposite ends of each bank, needle after needle in succession so as to narrow said webs to form the toe.

-3; The mode herein described otproducing a stocking foot, said mode consisting in 'jknitting' to-and-fro simultaneously upon oppositely disposed banks of needles, putting out of action, at the opposite ends of each bank, needle after needle in succession so as to narrow the webs, then knitting to-andfro in the same manner upon the remaining needles of each bank to produce instep and sole-webs of the desired length, and then putting out of action at the opposite ends of the active banks of needles nee'dle after needle in succession so as to' narrow the webs at the toe.

4. The mbde herein described of producing a stocking foot, said mode consisting in knitting to-and-fro simultaneously upon oppositely disposed banks of needles, supplying one yarn to one bank of needles and another yarn to the other bank of needles, putting out of action, at the opposite ends of each bank, needle after needle in succession so as to narrow the webs, then knitting toand-fro in the same manner upon the re-' maining needlesof each bank to produce instep and sole webs of the desired length,

and then, while continuing such knitting, putting out of action, at the opposite ends of the active banks of needles, needle after needle in succession so as to narrow the toe v Webs.

5. The-mode herein described of producing a stocking foot, said mode consisting in knitting to-and-tro upon one of a pair of oppositely disposed banks of needles, putting out of action at the opposite ends of said bank needle after needle in succession, and then reintroducing said needles in reverse order so as to form a seamless heel pocket on said bank of needles, then knitting to-and-fro simultaneously upon the oppositely disposed banks of needles, supplying one yarn to one bank of needles and a different yarn to the other bank of needles until the desired length of foot Webs has been produced, and then putting out of action, at the opposite ends of each bank, needle after needle in succession, so as to narrow the webs for the production of the toe.

6. The mode herein described of producing the foot portion of a stocking, said mode consisting in knitting to-and-fro simultaneously upon oppositely disposed banks of needles, supplying one yarn to one bank of needles and another yarn to the other bank of needles, drawing shorter stitches upon one bank ,of needles than upon the other, and producing a greater number of courses of stitches upon the needles drawing the short stitches than upon the needles drawing the longer stitches.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LoUIs N. 1). WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

KATE A. BEADLE, HAMILTON D. TURNER, 

